Hard To Love
by Call-Me-Crazy.Cuz I Am
Summary: Starfire refuses to give up on Robin, no matter what he does. She'll always love him, no matter how hard he makes it.


**A.N. Country music seems to have some kind of Teen Titans writing affect on me, because from Lee Brice's Hard To Love, this drabble was born. Review if you want, I'm not pushing it for this, because, honestly, it's more for me. **

Red.

Red and black.

Flashes of muddled colors, muted voices, and a deep-seated, throbbing ache.

Robin forced his eyes open, trying to blink away the sleepiness and the feeling that he was encased in concrete.

Starfire lay next to, him, curled into a ball and tucked into his side. He smiled. She must've creeped into his bed while he'd been asleep, or maybe they'd fallen asleep together. Somehow, the night before was blurry in his memories.

And then he looked closely at her.

Tear tracks, not fully dried, left on her tan cheeks. The way her hair was loose, not in the braids she always wore when she slept.

And there were two large bruises on her forehead.

Gently he reached out and touched them, fingers lightly dancing over the warm and pulsing purple-black marks.

"Who did this to you?" he murmured to himself, horrified that someone had hurt her.

But what horrified him more was that he didn't know if he'd been there to help her.

"Do not trouble yourself, Robin," She said quietly, surprising him. "I am the ok."

But as the day went on, it proved that Star was not okay. She moved with a stiffness that surprised him, and she could barely hold herself up while they trained. Also, it seemed like something was going on with the rest of the Titans, as well.

Raven wouldn't look at him, talk to him, or acknowledge his presence at all. Beast Boy turned into a Californian grizzly bear every time he came near, and Cyborg kept giving him death glares.

And they all seemed overprotective of Star, never leaving them in a room alone together, always standing in between them, and whisking her away whenever he held her.

At first, it was just curious.

And then, it started getting annoying.

By eight o'clock that evening, Robin was pissed.

Starfire, after all, was his girlfriend. Why should the others be so….it was infuriating to even think about it.

Finally, he couldn't take it any longer.

"Okay, so what happened last night?" he said, crossing his arms.

He didn't miss the glances Star shot Beast Boy and Raven, warning them not to say anything.

"Nothing, Lover Robin," She said, smiling and wrapping her arms around his neck.

But her smile was forced, Robin could tell. And there was a moment of hesitation before she touched him.

"Beast, Rave, leave." He growled, still looking at her.

Wordlessly, they exited.

"Alright, Star, I love you to much to not know when you're lying to me. What exactly happened, and why can't I remember it?"

She shook her head, pain and tears welling in her beautiful eyes. "Lover Robin…"

"Does it have something to do with those?" He asked gently, reaching out to touch the bruises.

She flinched at his touch, and suddenly it all made sense.

The tears that morning, the stiffness, the flinching and hesitation, the way none of the others would leave them alone together…

"Star… did I do that?"

Starfire started crying. " I had Cyborg erase the memory, for, Robin, you did not mean to. You were not yourself, Slade did something to your mind,"

"Don't you DARE make excuses for me, Starfire. I HIT you!" He tore her hands away from his neck and clenched his fists.

"It was not you, not Robin," She pleaded.

"How can you stand there and try to justify this?" He whirled on her. "How can you even pretend to love me?"

"Robin, I am not pretending! I do love you!"

"I HIT YOU, STARFIRE!" He yelled, grabbing her shoulders. "I LOVE YOU, AND I STILL HIT YOU! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THIS MEANS, WHAT THIS IS DOING TO ME? HOW CAN YOU STAND THERE AND NOT BE DISGUSTED!"

"Robin, please calm down," She whispered.

"How do you do it, Star?" He said, all his anger gone, leaving brokenness and self-loathing. "I yell at you, ignore you, miss our dates, I physically abused you! I couldn't love me if I were you!"

He expected her to turn, run, hide from him.

He didn't expect her to rise on her tiptoes and kiss him.

The kiss was full of love and pain and forgiveness, and soon, some of the tears he tasted were his.

"Robin, I did not say it was easy to love you," Starfire said, pulling away and looking him straight in the eye. "It is not easy. It is hard, one of the hardest things I think I will ever do."

"Star-" She cut him off with another sweet kiss.

"But on my planet, we have a saying. The hardest things we have to do," She pressed her lips to his again, cutting his reply off. "Give the most beautiful rewards."

**A.N. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic. **

**Shoot me. **

**REVIEW!**


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